John and Sam’s first duo job leaves John in the hospital and Sam alone, guilty and completely out of the loop about his father’s condition. He’s reminded just how much he misses and needs his big brother after a little chat with an anxious five year old.

Disclaimer: If I owned I probably wouldn't have so much time on my hands…

Warnings/spoilers: No spoilers. It is a WeeChester story, Dean is 17 and Sam has just recently turned 13.

A/N: There really is no true plot to this story, just basically fluff between Father and Son as well as the brothers. I'm actually proud of my writing in this story so I hope you all enjoy it.

Summary: John and Sam's first duo job leaves John in the hospital and Sam alone, guilty and completely out of the loop about his father's condition. He's reminded just how much he misses and needs his big brother after a little chat with an anxious five year old.

~*~*~

"Maybe we should wait until Dean gets back." Sam stuffed the last of his clothes into his duffel as John did one last sweep over their motel room.

"He won't be back till next week, Sam." Satisfied that they weren't leaving anything behind, John picked up his own bag and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "We'll be fine, son, I promise."

"Alright." He nodded and shrugged his father's hand off his shoulder before heading out to the parking lot.

John stood in the room for a few seconds, watching his youngest walk away and wondering, not for the first time, why it was so hard to understand Sam. He'd never had such a difficult time with Dean and John feared that it was only going to get harder as the years progressed. Sam was barely thirteen and already drifting away from John.

Often times John was torn between his feelings of pride and helplessness with Sam. He'd been pleased that by age ten, only one year into learning the family secret, Sam was able to carry himself against some rather large threats, including Dean. The more he thought about it, though, the more he felt the hurt slowly spreading through him. All the training that had set his boys up to be prepared for anything had also resulted in a lack of dependence on their father. It pained him that they no longer needed him.

He'd always felt silly for feeling like that and it hadn't exactly bothered him so much until he began to realize that Sam was coming to him less and less for help and support. The kid was becoming such an independent young adult and when he did need help his first person to call was always Dean. John just wished that sometimes his younger son would turn to him for more than food and shelter, essentials which were still in short supply on occasion.

When Pastor Jim had asked for help with a small hunt up in the Minnesota Mountains, John had been a little too enthusiastic about offering Dean's company to the priest. Of course Dean was more than thrilled to be allowed to travel alone and hunt as more of a second in command rather than a soldier. It had just felt like the perfect opportunity for John and Sam to have the chance to work together.

It was extremely selfish and slightly tricky, but John was convinced that without Dean around Sam would be forced to lean on John. Especially when the hunt was one Sam was unfamiliar with.

"You coming, Dad?" John snapped out of his thoughts and nodded as he too finally headed out to the truck.

Sam hopped up into the cab, and John couldn't help but smile at how small Sam still was. More than likely Sam would hit a growth spurt eventually, quite possibly sending the kid shooting up taller than his brother, but at thirteen he was still small for age. It was easy to forget how short Sam was when he had the attitude and strength of someone six feet tall.

He tossed his own bag into the back of the cab and climbed up into the driver's seat, giving Sam one last look before he started the engine and headed out onto the main road. Their drive would be about three hours long and John wasn't expecting anything but silence the whole way.

~*~*~

"Is there a reason you're so nervous, Sammy?" John noticed the unease pulsating from Sam's demeanor as he pulled the truck into a rundown diner, deciding they would grab lunch before they embarked on their hunt.

"I'm just not sure I'm ready." Sam bent his head lower, if that was even possible, and cracked his knuckles nervously. "You've never told me anything about Wendigos. I don't like going in blind."

"I'm glad you're cautious of that but you aren't going in blind, son." He reached in the back, pulled his journal out of his bag and tossed it into Sam's lap. "You know everything I know and you've read it all at least five times by now."

"What if I can't remember it all, Dad?"

"How do you kill one?"

"Iron, steel and silver."

"Exactly," He clapped Sam on the knee and hopped out of the truck. "You're going to do fine, kiddo. I know it."

Sam actually smiled at that, an honest to God smile, and John's stomach did a little flip. It'd been such a long time since John had actually seen those dimples. He wanted to take a picture or freeze time right there, knowing those smiles were so rare.

"So," He cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck. "How about some lunch? Can't go hiking on an empty stomach."

"Sounds good to me." Sam opened his own door and took a long jump onto the ground, meeting John at the front of the truck before they both headed into the diner.

John wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders, pulling the kid close to him as they walked side by side. He was surprised when Sam didn't pull away, in fact he even moved closer, and John could have sworn he caught yet another smile on the boy's face.

They both ended up ordering the same thing, cheeseburger no pickles or tomatoes, and John's silly smile grew even brighter. He really didn't know much about Sam, just another side effect of his baby boy growing up. The little things he learned at times like this, especially things he found they both had in common, just brought a strange joy that he wished he could feel more often.

"Hey, Dad?" Sam finished off his last French fry and looked up at John. "I still kind of wish we'd wait for Dean."

"Why is that? You know more than he does on this one."

"Really?" His eyes lit up and he sat up straighter. "You're not just saying that?"

"Dean's never hunted a Wendigo either, and he definitely doesn't read my journal as much as you."

"I'm not even sure he can read."

"It's questionable, and you know what else?" John laughed and was pleased to see Sam's worry slip away again, for good this time, he hoped. "He doesn't run as fast as you either and Wendigos are fast sons of bitches."

Sam seemed to stare at him for a few seconds as if not getting his point before he too busted out with a laugh. He took a deep breath and shook his head before he was able to speak.

"He'd tell you it's because of all his extra muscle, when truth is," He continued to smile, dimples becoming even more prominent. "He's carrying around a few extra pieces of pie."

The two laughed again, both imagining what Dean would have to say if he knew they were talking about him like so. None of it was true of course. Dean was in top shape, but it was always fun to knock his ego down a few notches. Dean picked on Sammy enough and the younger brother always lost the battle when big brother was around to actually fight it, so why shouldn't he have a chance to come out on top?

"How about we go get this job over with?" John slid out of the booth and laid a few dollars on the table. "Maybe we'll have some time to catch a showing of Independence Day."

"A movie?" Sam's eyes grew wide in disbelief as he slid out behind his father. "The last movie you took me to see was Pet Cemetery."

"And you made me miss most of it."

"I was six!" He defended with a sad pout on his face. "I can't believe you let Dean talk you into taking a six year old to see that movie."

"I wanted to see it." Really there hadn't been much talking into at the time. "And we couldn't exactly find a babysitter."

"And you wonder why I'm so screwed up."

John laughed and shook his head as they both climbed into the truck, ready to head out for a nice long hike through the woods. He had done all the research himself, making sure every last detail fit and eliminating any element of surprise. One Wendigo and six acres of woods; shouldn't be too hard to find the thing's cave, especially in the day light.

There was always the chance the thing will hunt during the day but they typically didn't get brazen, especially when the woods surrounded a popular camping site. The location gave it them plenty of victims to choose but not enough people wandered off alone so it usually waited until dark to make its move.

John had figured he and Sam would catch the thing while it was laying in wait, especially considering how nervous Sam felt about this hunt. Wendigos became much stronger at night and as long as they played everything right, they would be able to get in, kill the thing, and be out before dusk. There really wasn't much for Sam to worry about but John couldn't blame him for feeling unprepared and anxious. After all, he taught the boys to always know their prey as well as they possibly could and Sam had always taken that lesson more seriously than Dean.

The diner was only a few minutes away from the south side of the woods and if John calculations were correct, the Wendigo was holding up in the southwestern region. He had studied the map for over seven hours, plotting all the attacks and devising the best plan for searching the land.

Since all the attacks had happened not far from the lake that was located at the western end, he and Sam would most likely start there and work inward. There were only three caves located in the entire six acres and two of them happened to be in the southwestern region, making it the perfect hunting grounds for a Wendigo.

John pulled the truck into a small clearing, making sure it was well hidden from the road, before jumping out once again and making his way around to the back. He opened up the weapons case and pulled out two pistols, handing one to Sam and tucking the other into his waistband. Sam followed his father's actions and grabbed the essentials pack before stepping back from the truck and waiting for John.

"Ready, Kiddo?"

Sam nodded and stepped up behind John as the two headed into the woods. He pulled the pack close to his back, comforted by it presence. Even after all the reassurances his father had given him, there was still a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He had been in charge of packing their necessities for the hike so he was confident they weren't missing anything. There were even four bottles of water stuffed in the backpack; you could never have enough water in the summer heat. Still something just didn't feel right.

At first he thought it could have been because Dean wasn't here with them. Sam had never hunted without his brother and he worried things wouldn't go so well with him and his Dad being alone but now he was actually enjoying the time with John. They had never had one on one time and Sam had always assumed that was why John and Dean got along better.

Everything had been going well so far and had already exceeded his low expectations. Maybe he was just being paranoid; that had to be it.

Sam shook his head at himself and brought his attention back to the trail they were following. When he looked up ahead of him he no longer saw his father, but he could hear John's voice calling out to him. He quickly picked up his pace and headed further up the trail to catch up with his father.

"I'm coming, Dad."

"What the heck were you doing?" The anger in his voice caused Sam to flinch but he knew John had a right to be upset as well as worried. They were supposed to stay together at all times.

"I thought I saw something so I stopped to check it out." He hoped John wouldn't pick up on the lie because telling his father he had been lost in his thoughts was definitely not a good idea.

"What did you see?"

"Uh…" Sam never had been good at lying or quick thinking, that was Dean's specialty. "Just a pair of foot prints."

He could finally see John standing up ahead, gun at the ready, and Sam felt guilty for scaring his Dad but it hadn't been intentional. John slowly lowered his gun when he spotted Sam and tucked it back into his waistband.

"You know better than that, Sam." He was relieved Sam was okay but he wasn't about to let the mistake slide.

"I'm sorry." Sam lowered his head and tucked his hands into his pockets.

He was just a few yards away from John when he heard the rustling from his left. His head perked up instantly and his eyes did a quick scan of the area but he couldn't see anything. John was still standing there, glaring at Sam, so he apparently hadn't heard the sound.

"Come on, we got to keep mo-"

Before Sam could even think of pulling out his gun something darted out from the left of the trail and smashed into John, sending him flying into a tree. Sam pulled his gun out as quickly as possible, and ran the rest of the way to his father, keeping the gun trained on the forest surrounding them.

He heard the rustling again just as he made it to John's side and this time the noise was behind him. He flew around and kept his gun raised and ready for the next attack. The creature was definitely fast. Sam hadn't even been able to get a look at the thing.

His eyes caught a sudden movement in the forest and he could hear the rustling coming from even closer now. Just as it had with John, the creature darted out from the trees but this time Sam was ready and able to squeeze the trigger at just the right moment, stopping the Wendigo's progress. The creature let out a painful cry before dropping onto the ground at Sam's feet.

Sam stared at the creature for a few seconds before the shock slowly wore off and he came crashing back to reality. He quickly stowed his gun away and turned back to his father.

"Dad!" He dropped onto his knees and did a preliminary check for injuries.

His hand reached up and brushed over his father's head, pulling back when he felt the warm, sticky substance. He tried to remind himself that head wounds bled a lot and told himself John only had a concussion but no matter how loud he thought he yelled or how hard he shook, his father just wasn't waking up.

He quickly ceased his actions when his eyes caught sight of John's arm. The limb was bent at an unnatural angle, folded under John's body. Sam cursed himself for shaking his father and quite possibly causing even more damage to his obviously broken arm.

This was definitely not an easy situation.

There was no way Sam could get them both out of there unless John woke up soon. He was strong, but his small build would definitely not allow him to take on his father's weight and if he dragged him out he risked the chance of aggravating injuries. There was only one solution.

Sam quickly reached into his father's pocket and pulled out the cell phone. He backed away from John, sparing him another worried glance, before running back out of the forest and toward the road.

Luckily when he reached the road the cell phone was able to receive a signal. He dialed the three simple numbers and rattled off their location as well as all the answers to their pointless questions. The lady on the phone assured him everything would be okay, that he just needed to stay calm. She told him how brave he was and all that typical jargon that emergency operators spit out to distressed kids. He didn't believe any of it.

Finally he had had enough of the lady's rambling and hung up the phone, rushing back to his father's position. His eyes fell on the body laying a few feet from John and he realized he needed to do something before the paramedics got there.

He took a deep breath and reached for the creatures arms, dragging the thing as fast and as far as he could into the dense forest. Really he should burn the body and he knew that, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. He would make sure they came back to finish the job, and he hid the body well enough that no one should stumble across it.

By the time he made it back to his father he could hear the sirens in the distance. He tried once more in vain to wake John up and for the first time he realized there were tears rolling down his cheeks. Things had been going fine and then he had to go and put his father in danger.

If Sam hadn't been so caught up in himself, in his own fears, then John would have been focused on the hunt rather than Sam. He wouldn't have been standing out there in the open, vulnerable to attack. He wouldn't have been thrown against a tree and wouldn't be lying in pain.

This wouldn't have happened if Dean were here.

~*~*~

"Please!" Sam begged, slamming his fists onto the counter. "You've got to tell me how he is. Is he okay?"

"I'm sorry, hun." The young nurse frowned but didn't raise her voice. "I just can't give information like that to a minor. Not unless your father okay's it."

"He can't okay it if he's dying!" It just wasn't fair. He'd filled out all the papers and given them all the information they asked for but they wouldn't even tell him his father's condition.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." She smiled and placed a gentle hand over the boy's. "Why don't you take a walk and clear your head. Everything will be okay."

Sam pulled his hand back and snarled at the woman before turning away and heading down the corridor. He'd been there for three hours already, pacing around in the waiting room going nuts. Nothing was helping and the guilt was eating away at him more and more by the second. He refused to cry anymore though. He refused to be weak because his Dad would want him to be tough, to keep his game face on, even if he was all alone.

That was the worst part. He was alone.

Dean was up in the mountains with Pastor Jim and Sam didn't have any way of getting a hold of him. He didn't want to need Dean so much, he wanted to be able to handle things on his own but he had screwed up way too much today. Right now all he wanted was to see his father or brother. He just wanted one of them to tell him it was okay. He didn't want to hear it from some nurse who got paid to tell lies.

He didn't know where he was walking anymore, just went where his feet took him, hoping that maybe he'd end up in the right place, wherever that was. Everything looked alike; all the hallways were the same nasty eggshell color, with random pointless pictures hanging on the wall.

Somehow he ended up in another waiting room but this one was completely empty and pretty secluded from the rest of the floor. He sighed to himself, hating that he was alone, yet enjoying the peace and quiet for just a moment. He was so sick of all the people rushing past him, none of them carrying the answers or help he needed.

He pulled a chair up to the window, looking out into the surrounding city. It was actually quite a pretty view and he wished he could enjoy it but his mind was everywhere but there.

"Can I sit with you?" His head snapped to the side, startled by the tiny voice that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

He must really be off his game to have not heard the footsteps approaching.

The small boy stood in front of him, eyes drifting from side to side nervously. The kid couldn't have been any older than five.

"Sure." One look at the kid and Sam knew he couldn't say no. "What are you doing wandering around by yourself, kid?"

"My grandma fell asleep so I took a walk." The boy pushed one of the heavy chairs beside Sam's and climbed up onto it. "I didn't want to sit there anymore. I don't like waiting."

"Me either," Sam felt himself smile, the boy may have looked five but he acted much older. "What are you waiting for?"

"My mommy."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"She's okay!" The little boy smiled at Sam. "She's just having a baby."

Sam couldn't help but laugh. The way the kid worded it made giving birth sound like nothing more than a tonsillectomy.

"That's exciting."

"I guess so." The little boy looked away and his smile fell from his face. "Everyone else is real excited and I've gotten lots of present."

"But you're not excited?"

"Promise you won't tell?" Sam bit back a smile because really, who did he have to tell, but he nodded anyway. "I told Daddy I was okay when he asked but I'm a little scared."

"Scared?" He leaned forward a bit to get a good look at the kid's face. "Your Mom will be okay, kid. Soon you'll have a little brother or sister to play with."

"What if I'm not ready to be a big brother? I'm only four and a half."

"I think you're going to be a great big brother, dude."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"How?"

"Because you remind me of my big brother." Sam slumped back into his chair, remembering why he had ventured off to this area in the first place.

"Is he a good big brother?" The little boy's eyes lit up and he smiled as he scooted even closer to Sam.

"He's the best."

"What kinds of things does he do?"

"Well, when I was little he told me lots of neat stories," He smiled as he watched the boy nod, knowing he was trying to take notes in his little head. "and he played lots of games with me. He even let me win a lot of them."

"What's he do now?"

Sam chewed at his bottom lip and blinked his eye a few times. All this talk about Dean was just making his presence missed even more. If he didn't get there soon Sam had no idea how he would get through the current situation, especially when no one was willing to give him any information. His father could be dead right now.

He could be dead and it would be all Sam's fault.

"Mister?" The little boy tugged at Sam's shirt. "Are you okay?"

"Sam." He nodded and smiled at the boy. "You can call me Sam."

"You miss your brother, Sam?"

"How'd you know?"

"You look all sad," The boy placed his small hand over Sam's folded hands. "It's okay to be sad but I wish you weren't."

"I'm okay." Sam sat up straighter and turned back to the boy, trying to seem more together. "I miss my brother a lot right now." He took a deep breath and then released it. "Maybe you should be getting back to your family, kid, before they get worried. I'm sure your little brother or sister is going to be waiting to meet you very soon."

"I hope so." He looked past Sam for a second and then turned back to the older boy. "Is your brother big and strong?"

"He sure is." Sam laughed again and part of him felt guilty for letting his mind wander from his father but the rest of him was enjoying the distraction.

"How'd he get that way?"

"He ate all his veggies." That was definitely a lie but it had worked on Sam so many times. "He had to grow big and strong so he could protect me."

"I will never leave another broccoli on my plate." He shook his head with a smile before hopping off the chair. "I'm going to go see if my little brother's here yet."

Sam waved good bye and waited till the boy was gone before dropping his head into his hands and letting a few tears slide down his cheeks. Not even thirty seconds later he heard the boy's loud, cheerful voice from behind him.

"Hi Sam's big brother!"

His eyes grew wide and he quickly wiped away his tears as he jumped up from his seat. When he turned around he was shocked to actually see Dean standing there. How on earth had the kid known that was his big brother?

Dean smiled at the little boy and gave him a friendly wave before the boy scurried off down the hallway. When he brought his attention back to Sam his smile grew even wider, not picking up on the distress pouring off his sibling.

"How'd he know it was you?" Sam asked, stunned and slightly worried he was going crazy.

"I'm big and strong," Dean laughed but held up his hand before Sam could question any further. "I'd been standing there awhile. Guess he figured I was either a creeper or your brother."

"Or both." For the first time since they had arrived at the hospital, Sam felt himself actually smile and not just a fake, decoy smile, but an actual happy smile. He'd never been more thrilled to see his brother than at that moment.

Before he could even think what he was doing he flung himself at Dean, taking his brother by surprise and nearly knocking them both backwards. Luckily for him Dean actually was big and strong and quickly compensated for the sudden armful of Sam he received.

For a moment all he could do was hug Sam back, he really had no idea what was going on, but when he felt the warm tears moistening his shirt he knew whatever it was wasn't good. He pushed Sammy back just a bit so he could see his brother's face before taking a seat and pulling Sam into the one beside him.

"What's wrong, Sammy?"

"Dad's hurt and it's all my fault." He dropped his head into his hands again and cried even louder, forgetting all about his pride.

"Now why on earth would you think that?" Dean cupped the back of Sam's neck with one hand and pulled his hands from his face with the other. "Dad is just fine and him taking a hit was definitely not your fault, kiddo."

"He's not fine, he's dying!"

"Whoa!" Dean quickly dropped to his knees on the floor and moved so he was kneeling in front of Sam. "Dad is not dying, Sam. What gave you that impression?"

"They won't tell me anything." Sam took a deep breath and wiped a few tears away, while more continued to roll down his cheeks. "They said they couldn't tell me anything till Dad woke up because I wasn't old enough."

"Son of a-" He shook his head and tried to hold his anger back. "He's fine, Sammy. He's just got a concussion and a broken arm."

"How do you know?"

"I spoke to his doctor."

"They told you? You're only seventeen."

"My ID say's otherwise, little brother."

"How'd you even know to come?"

"They called me as soon as they admitted Dad. You wrote me as his contact, Sammy."

"I forgot," He lowered his head and wiped the last of his tears away, feeling more confused and tired than anything else right now. "I didn't have chance to call you and I left Dad's cell phone in the forest."

"You did a good job." Dean squeezed his hand tighter, though gentle, around the back of Sam's neck. "Don't beat yourself up for forgetting the little things. I'm proud of you."

"Can we see Dad now?"

"They're putting his cast on now but we can go in shortly."

"Think he'll be mad at me?"

"No, I don't, and you know why?" Dean waited until Sam shook his head before he continued. "Because I'm your big brother and all those damn stories I told you always had a happy ending. This one does too."

"It's rude to listen to other people's conversations, Dean."

There was no anger or embarrassment in his words. He didn't care that Dean had heard everything he told that kid because Dean should already know that stuff and if he didn't, then Sam's glad he does now. If that kid turned out to be half as awesome at the big brother stuff as Dean was then his little sibling would be one lucky kid.

~*~*~

Dean gave one look at the nurses sitting behind the next and felt the anger he had been holding back suddenly boil over the top. He looked down at Sam, who was walking extremely close to his side, and stopped moving for a moment.

"Go have a seat for a few minutes." He pointed Sam toward the waiting area but noticed the defiance in his little brother's eyes. "I'm just going to find out if we can go see Dad or if they're letting him go any time soon."

Sam reluctantly nodded and shuffled off to the hard plastic chairs, goose bumps quickly spreading across his body when the exposed skin behind his knees settled onto the cool plastic. He kept his eyes focused on Dean but pretended he couldn't hear a word his big brother was saying, though he could hear everything quite clearly.

"I don't care about policy!" Dean yelled, slamming his fists onto the counter top. "You don't let a scared child believe his father's dead! You knew damn right well nothing serious was wrong with my father, least you could do was make sure my little brother understand that."

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his slips as he watched Dean reprimand the very pretty, but frightened, nurse that sat behind the desk. Normally his brother would be all over her, flirting with and charming her into doing anything he wanted, but Sam knew that no one, pretty or not, messed with him and got away with it. Not if Dean was around to say something about it.

"I'm sorry." The nurse looked down, unable to handle the anger being directed at her. "I was only doing my job."

"Yeah well maybe you should have some common sense too," Dean lowered his voice and stuck his hands into his jean pockets. "A college degree isn't everything, you know. Now I'd like to see my father so I can show my brother he's just fine."

"Of course," She quickly typed something into her computer, still not able to look up at Dean. "He should be coming out any minute, there's no need to keep him over night."

As if on cue the doors behind Dean flung open and the loud, gruff, voice of his father could be heard sending curses across the hospital. Dean couldn't help but smile, his Dad never did like hospitals and waking up in one must not have been any fun.

Apparently Sam had heard their father as well and before Dean could even say anything Sam flew by him as nothing more than a gust of wind. He quickly whirled around to find his brother barreling toward their father, nearly sending the man onto his back as the kid latched his arms around John's waist.

"I'm so sorry, Dad!" Sam buried his head into John's shirt, arms squeezing as tight as possible.

John stood shocked for a moment before wrapping his good arm around Sam's thin shoulders, holding him close as he ran his hand over the back of Sam's head. When he finally looked up and caught sight of Dean standing in front of him his confusion turned into shock, and Dean could easily read the questions filling his mind.

"Hey, Dad." Dean smiled as his father shuffled over to him slowly, pulling Sam with him as the boy refused to let go.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," He laughed but stopped when he saw no amusement in John's eyes. "Hospital called me."

John's eyes fell down to Sam again and he nodded, realizing how hospital procedure went.

It wasn't until then that he picked up on the broken sob and the dampness now seeping into his shirt. He quickly pushed Sam back and knelt down in front of the boy so that they were on the same eye level.

"What's wrong, Sammy?"

"I screwed up."

"No you didn't, son."

"I almost got you killed."

"I'm fine."

"You could have died and it was all my fault!"

Dean took that moment to send another angry glare in the nurse's direction and she quickly swiveled her chair around and went back to typing on her computer.

"Sammy, you didn't do anything wrong and I promise you I'm alright." He brought Sam back to him, letting Sam's head drop onto his shoulder, the tears now soaking a new patch of material. "We'll talk more later, but everything is fine. I swear to you."

"They wouldn't give him information." Dean nodded toward the nurses, trying to explain Sam's behavior in the simplest way. "They left him in the dark; kid didn't even know you woke up."

His arm stilled curled around Sam's shoulders, keeping the boy tucked into his own body, he nudged Dean gently on the back. The elder boy snapped back toward his family, picking up on his Dad's unspoken instruction, and quickly jumped into action, leading the way to the Impala.

The three of them had almost made it to the elevator when the little voice called out from behind them. Sam stood up straighter and maneuvered out of his father's arm as he turned around to find the little boy from earlier.

"I'm a big brother!" The little boy ran up and wrapped his tiny arms around Sam.

John and Dean stood and watched as Sam stooped down to the boy's level, a genuine smile on the youngest Winchester's face. Sam held the boy out by the shoulders and when their eyes met, both boys' smiles grew wider.

"I got to hold her and Mommy and Daddy were so happy that I liked her." All three Winchester's laughed at that, but John's laugh held such a different tone as he remembered Dean's first meeting with Sam.

"I bet you're going to be an awesome big brother." Sam stood back up, still smiling, and ruffled the boy's hair. "You've got to protect her now, remember that."

"I'm going to protect her and play games with her and…" He took a deep breath, running out of air as he spoke at a much too rapid pace. "I'll even let her win, just like your big brother!"

John turned a questioning look at Dean who just shrugged in return.

"I'm going to be the best!" The little boy looked over at Dean this time and tried to wink, which caused Dean to laugh.

Sam shook his head, his smile slipping for a second as he looked between Dean and the little boy in front of him, "You can't be the best."

"Why not?"

Sam turned toward his father and brother, both smiling, their eyes crinkling at the sides; just one of the many things they shared in common. He too winked at Dean and though the older brother would never admit it, he was definitely a bit choked up by the show of honest emotion from his little brother.

"'Cause that spots already taken."

~*~DontKnowMyName~*~

Well that was it. I know it was super long but I really appreciate everyone who made it to the end.

The idea of Sam talking to a 5 year old about Dean popped into my head and I felt the need to write it lol.

I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'd love to hear form you all.

Thanks so much for reading!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.